Introduction

“In December 1891 one of the great events of his life took place as in December he
married Miss Best of Memphis, Missouri. It is not unfair to Mr. McLane to state that
through her leadership his greatest achievements have been accomplished.”

When C.L. McLane, Fresno State’s first president, wrote his history he included this
quote (above) from Fred P. Hogan’s brief biography of him. This remarkable praise
of an early faculty wife is a wonderful example of the influence that many of the
Faculty Wives have had in their homes, the community, and at Fresno State. Although
Faculty Wives has been primarily a social group, “it is not unfair” to Fresno State
to state that with the influence, support, and encouragement of the wives of the Fresno
State Faculty–Fresno State has accomplished many great things.”

Origins of Faculty Wives

Fresno in 1925 was a young, busy community. It was still small enough that the Fresno
State campus on McKinley and Van Ness ‘extension’ was on the outskirts of town. A
brief look at The Fresno Bee in September of 1925 shows stores advertising flapper style clothes, and offering
ice at 25 pounds for 10 cents. The society pages still included children’s birthday
parties. The state was planning it’s Diamond Jubilee and AAUW’s first meeting of the
school year on Saturday, September 26, 1925 was featured news on the Society page.

The commonly accepted date of Faculty Wives’ beginning in 1925 comes from a list of
presidents or general chairman that has been handed down and extended year after year.
Very little information of the early faculty wives is actually known. Faculty Wives
began saving records, pictures and information in the mid 1950’s and has programs
from 1947 that describe the years’ activities, lists of honorary members (wives of
retired faculty), interest groups and past presidents. Two unsubstantiated reference
to the origins of Faculty Wives are found in records kept by the historian. In an
article in The Fresno Guide written in 1972 and introducing the new officers, a brief mention is made that Faculty
Wives “was founded in 1925 as a sewing circle.” A questionnaire from 1961 and also
found in the historian’s scrapbook states, “When Faculty Wives of Fresno State College
was organized there were 22 charter members.”

A review of the 1925 Fresno State College Circular shows that there were 28 male faculty
and administrators of which some were bachelors. Since membership of the organization
has always been limited to wives of faculty and administrators, the wives of these
men are probably the first members of the organization. Early members of the organization
might have included such familiar names as Mrs. C.L. McLane, Mrs. (Caroline) G.B.
Colburn, Mrs. (Charlotte) Huber Phillips, Mrs. (Laura) Emory Ratcliffe, Mrs. (Ina)
Frank W. Thomas, Mrs. (Ruth) A.G. Wahlberg, and Mrs. (Ruth) T.T. Waterman. The president
in 1925 was Mrs. (Lota) Frank Morris. Stories written about Laura Ratcliffe in the
Fresno Bee and in AAUW’s Heritage Fresno, Women and their Contributions credit her with being instrumental in the founding of Faculty Wives. She was its
third and seventh president.

WHEN Emory and Laura Ratcliffe (could this be the Ratcliffe of Fresno’s Ratcliffe
Stadium?) came to Fresno in the summer of 1915, the arrived at the train station at
2:00 a.m. Hot and dusty, they found the first hotel. The next morning they called
President McLane who told them “to get a street car and come straight out.” After
traveling “way out into the country” they asked the streetcar driver where Fresno
State was. He wasn’t sure but pointed to the temporary buildings that were the beginnings
of the ‘new’ campus.

ARRIVING in Fresno was an adjustment for many new faculty. WhenLeo and Betty Hadsell
arrived in the dry, hot Fresno from Pennsylvania in the mid 1920’s, Mrs. Hadsell felt
so miserable that her husband promised her that they would stay for only one year.
Certainly experiences like these prompted the founding of an organization to support
each other as pioneers in the building of Fresno State. Faculty Wives gave women from
all over the country (all the intellectual equals of their husbands and very capable)
a social outlet and a bond to the community.

Goals and Activities

The primary goal of Faculty Wives has been to promote friendliness between it’s members,
as shown in the following quote from the 1953 Faculty Handbook:

“The purpose of Faculty Wives; Club is to promote friendliness and acquaintanceship
among wives of faculty men and to be of service to Fresno State College. The group
meets monthly during the college year, honors new members at a tea; and on alternate
years gives a Christmas Party for all faculty and college employees and a tea for
the Faculty Women’s Club or a dinner for their husbands. Besides the monthly meetings
there are a book section, bridge section, and newcomer’s section (first two-year faculty
and wives) which meet regularly.”

Not all of Faculty Wives activities were tea parties. Betty Haak remembers a scholarship
fund raising event from the first years that the Haak’s were in Fresno–a Roaring Twenties
Party called ’73 Skidoo–that helped to cement the friendships they were to make in
Fresno. To enter the party through a false office front, 450 partygoers had to repeat
the password “’73 Skidoo.” Organizers awarded prizes for the best costume and Charleston
dancer, while 6 professors entertained dressed as flappers dancing the Charleston.
The crowd cheered them on with cries of “More, More…” Raising $1500 for the Scholarship
Fund was never more fun!

Everything did not always go smoothly. In April 1971 when Marion Tocchio was president,
she planned a wine tasting event to raise money for the newly formed scholarship fund.
After much preparation, dressed and eager to leave, she gave her hair (remember those
1971 hairdos) a touch of hair spray. To her surprise her hair turned white! She had
grabbed a can of bathroom cleaner by mistake. She remedied the situation as best she
could and minutes later she dashed off to the party and showed that a sense of humor
can carry the day.

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